This Metric Says You Are Smart to Sell Tutor Perini Corp (TPC)

Tutor Perini Corp (NYSE:TPC) was in 6 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. TPC investors should pay attention to a decrease in hedge fund interest lately. There were 13 hedge funds in our database with TPC positions at the end of the previous quarter.

In the financial world, there are tons of indicators investors can use to analyze stocks. A duo of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a superb amount (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the world of equities. Obviously, there are plenty of incentives for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a glance at the key action regarding Tutor Perini Corp (NYSE:TPC).

What does the smart money think about Tutor Perini Corp (NYSE:TPC)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -54% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Dreman Value Management, managed by David Dreman, holds the largest position in Tutor Perini Corp (NYSE:TPC). Dreman Value Management has a $28.5 million position in the stock, comprising 0.8% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Pzena Investment Management, managed by Richard S. Pzena, which held a $26.7 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedgies that are bullish include Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

Judging by the fact that Tutor Perini Corp (NYSE:TPC) has experienced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that elected to cut their positions entirely in Q1. At the top of the heap, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies dumped the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, totaling close to $1.7 million in stock., and Israel Englander of Millennium Management was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $1.5 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 7 funds in Q1.

How have insiders been trading Tutor Perini Corp (NYSE:TPC)?

Insider buying is most useful when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, Tutor Perini Corp (NYSE:TPC) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Tutor Perini Corp (NYSE:TPC). These stocks are Layne Christensen Company (NASDAQ:LAYN), Dycom Industries, Inc. (NYSE:DY), Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA), Primoris Services Corp (NASDAQ:PRIM), and Aegion Corp – Class A (NASDAQ:AEGN). This group of stocks are in the heavy construction industry and their market caps are closest to TPC’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by our tactics, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Tutor Perini Corp (NYSE:TPC) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds